Erin Campbell Character Watcher The Time Machine Post 3
Unlike the first section of the book, the main character seems very uncomfortable. This is due to the fact of being in a different time period. When he is time traveling he even has the difficulty of convincing himself to stop anywhere.
He thinks to himself, “The peculiar risk lay in the possibility of my finding some substance in the space which I, or the machine, occupied. So as long as I traveled at a high velocity through time, this scarcely mattered… above all the prolonged falling had absolutely upset my nerve. I told myself that I could never stop, and with a gust of petulance I resolved to stop forthwith.”
So obviously he does then stop, but this nervousness does not cease. He says when landing, “I felt naked in a strange world. I felt as perhaps a bird may feel in the clear air, knowing the hawk wings above and will swoop. My fear grew to frenzy.” He becomes even more crazed when he realizes that his time machine is moved. He races down the hill, tears apart bushes, rips plants out, wakes up the sleeping etc. The next day he continues his rampage by trying to hammer a hole in the sphinx statue, thinking that the machine is hidden within it.
So my questions to you are:
1. Do you think that the main character is going crazy or do you believe he has right to be acting so wildly, due to his situation? Why? Support your answer.
2. Do you believe that the main character will act this way every time that he time travels or is it just first time jitters?
Essayish thing: If you were in the same situation how would you respond? Be creative and try to give specific events, emotions, actions etc.
~Erin C. =]
Category: Character Watcher 5 comments »
April 3rd, 2009 at 7:09 pm
1. I do not think the main character is going crazy I do think that he has the right to go crazy. He was just thrown from his world 800,000 years or so into the future. Everything is different and too much for him to handle. It is like inertia. When you are moving and you gradually slow down you don’t notice the change and it is no big deal to you, but if you are flying by and you slam on the brakes you fly forward, your body tenses up, and you shut down momentarily in panic. The brakes have just been slamed on the time traveler and he is now shutting down. That is my theory on that.
2. I think it is just the first time jitters. If he goes farther into the future he might act this way because of the unkown but any time in the past he may just treat it like a walk in the park because he was already at an even distant future.
If I were in the time travelers position I would probably do the same thing. First of all the feeling of time traveling would drive me off the wall. I am sure my nerves would be shot by the time I got to my destend time. On discovering this lonely world in which nobody understands me I would probably go crazy and end up getting myself into a dangerous situation in the wilderness or with the Morlocks. To put the iceing on the cake finding that the time machine was gone would first send me into an uncontrolable frenzy to find it but when the reality stikes me that I would be stuck in that time I would fall apart until I realize how to survive in this world.
-Taran
April 5th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Colin Easter
1. I don’t think that the time traveller is going crazy. He is just concerned and frightened. The time machine is the only thing that can take him back to his time, so if he loses it he is stuck there. Therefore, it would be his top priority to get it back. While he was sometimes violent to the little people, this is due to his situation. He lost his way back to his time, the little people can’t help him, and he is lashing out at them for it.
2. I think that he will only act this way in the future if he loses his time machine. This is because it is the only way for him to get home and away from his current situation. He wouldn’t need to worry about a terrible future if he could just use his time machine to get away.
3. If I was in his situation, I would probably do the same things as the time traveller. Finding out that the time machine was missing would make me panic. Since the little people wouldn’t be able to help, I would get angry at them. I wouldn’t lash out at them like the time traveller did, but I wouldn’t be happy with them. I would most likely try to form a weapon of some sort and investigate the Morlcocks’ tunnels.
April 5th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Sonam Sherpa
1. Well, I personally do think that the time traveller is going just a little bit crazy. This contradicts what everyone has already said about this question, but I shall support my answer. First off, even though he is going a bit nutty he has perfect reason to act the way that he is. The reason why is because he has been thrust into a new world in a whole new millenia that is extremely infamiliar to him and his way of life.
2. I think that he will act similar every time that he time travels. The reason why is because every time that he will time travel he will most likely be shoved into a time period that has millions of differences with each other, and even more differences with his home time. I think that even though he will still be shocked every time that he time travels he will slowly get more accustomed to the idea of how to time travel and he will also learn how to deal with the different times.
Well, this is not going to be the toughest answer ever but, if I was in this situation I would probably find a nice comfortable corner, hide in it and then roll up into a fetal position and cry (I know it was very manly). Then the next thing that I would do would be to start to contemplate how far I was in the future, and find out where I was geographically. The reason why is because if you know when and where you are then you will be able to compare it to your own time and find a way to deal. Then I would try to find the dominant species and create good connections.
April 5th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
I dont think he is crazy. This is something no one has ever experienced. He is just in a stage of panic and does not no what to do with himself. He is a smart man he will regain his senses soon and be able to process what is going on to make wise desicions.
I think he will act a little bit like this every time but not to this degree every time. Each time it will be something new to expieriece but he will regain self control quicker than he will this time.
I can not even imagine what I would do. I would be like so out of it i would be like running into walls and everything! I would most likely die from like falling off a mountain or something.
-amber
April 14th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Why does he go into the future instead of the past? Which would you be more curious about and why?
Sonam-Yes-so manly indeed!